A Need for Closure: Grey’s Anatomy

Last week (after a year hiatus) I decided to watch ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Not like I used to (frantically every Thursday with my phone in another room on silent and everything I needed for the next hour within arm’s reach) but calmly, collectedly, and online—marathon style 😉

From 2005 to 2011 Grey’s Anatomy was by far the best medical drama on television as far as I’m concerned. It had a combination of exciting surgical action, believable plot lines, and most of all: well-developed characters who demanded our respect, empathy, and admiration.

But two seasons ago, everything changed; one of the most intensely moving season finales ever aired and it took both the characters and viewers an entire season to make peace with what happened. It was a hospital shooting that occurred in a highly realistic way. It was terrifying, developed characters were murdered point-blank, and we were almost violently robbed of Bailey, Alex, Lexie, Christina, and the oh so loved McDreamy Derek.

The only thing that was certain after that shooting is that neither the characters, the viewers, nor the show as a whole were ever the same again. And at that point I began to believe the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, did not believe in happy endings. After-all we’ve now had three consecutive seasons that have ended in severe loss and heartbreak. Thus my hiatus.

Upon returning to the show (due to rumors that the series may be ending soon) I hoped to tune in to a more upbeat show. But I was wrong. This latest season finale of Grey’s Anatomy presents yet another bleak situation for the cast and more death to characters we have come to know and love. I ask you, Rhimes, why can you not just give viewers some closure? Can Derek and Meredith please get to live happily ever after as a healthy and loving family? Can you find it in your heart to allow Alex to please maintain a healthy relationship and realize how truly awesome he is as both a doctor and a man? Can you please let Christina be the surgeon she sought out to be during the first season?

All I ask, after going through so much drama, heartache, and despair is that Grey’s Anatomy give its loyal fans a happy ending. We’ve earned it!